In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether Products Liability Litigation
A district court denied oil and gas companies' motions to dismiss claims that their use and handling of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) has contaminated, or threatens to contaminate, groundwater in Puerto Rico. The companies argued that Puerto Rico's island-wide claims for relief should be dismis...
Sierra Club, Inc. v. St. Johns River Water Management District
A district court held that an environmental group may go forward with its CWA and NEPA lawsuit against a water district, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the owner of the largest federal mitigation bank in the United States over claims that the defendants have taken actions to use and develop t...
Walther v. United States
A district court dismissed a mitigation bank owner's APA claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for requiring a CWA §404 permittee to purchase "invalid" banking credits from another mitigation bank in connection with a railroad project. The owner claimed that despite the fact that his miti...
Ward Gulfport Properties, L.P. v. Mississippi State Highway Comm'n
The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded a lower court decision that the state's transportation agency did not effect a categorical or regulatory taking when it pledged approximately 1,300 acres of a developer's property for wetlands mitigation as part of its application for a dredge and ...
Little v. Louisville Gas & Electric Co.
The Sixth Circuit held that the CAA does not preempt property owners' state common law tort claims against a nearby power plant for allowing ash, dust, and coal combustion by-products to blow onto their properties. The owners brought RCRA and CAA claims against the power plant in addition to their s...
Merrick v. Diageo Americas Supply, Inc.
The Sixth Circuit held that the CAA does not preempt property owners' state common-law tort claims against a whiskey distillery for excess ethanol emissions that allegedly caused "whiskey fungus" to grow on their properties. Below, the district court rejected the distillery's argument that the CAA p...
Treasure State Resource Industry Ass'n v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's designation of Yellowstone County, Montana, and Wayne County, Michigan, as "nonattainment" under the sulfur dioxide (SO2) NAAQS. Two petitioners—an industry association and a steel company—challenged the designations, albeit for different reasons. The industry assoc...